In case of an emergency or severe weather conditions, please check this website for a prominent announcement in a red or yellow banner across the top regarding changes in school schedules. If there is no red or yellow banner, all schools are on normal schedule.

Most Denver news stations announce these changes, as well. The district may also send an email to all LPS families when school schedule changes occur. Families are encouraged to keep their contact information and contact preferences in their Infinite Campus Parent Portal account updated.

We encourage all LPS families to set their message preferences to receive a text message when weather-related decisions are made:

1. Log in to your Infinite Campus Parent Portal
2. Click the profile icon
3. Click "Settings"
4. Click "Contact Preferences"
5. In rows "Priority" and "Emergency" select "Text (SMS)"
6. Click "Save" at the bottom of the screen.

You can change this preference at any time. Standard text message (SMS) rates may apply.

Remember: weather-related decisions are made early in the morning and a text may be delivered to your phone before 5 a.m. Charges are dependent upon your service plan, which may include fees from your carrier to send and receive these text (SMS) messages.

If weather conditions are predicted to worsen significantly throughout the day, it may be necessary to cancel after-school activities in order to keep students and staff safe. In an effort to best meet the needs of individual schools, sometimes each school will determine if after-school activities and events should be cancelled, and schools will communicate with parents.

If the decision is made to cancel after-school activities districtwide:

• The decision will be made by 1:00 p.m. if possible.
• All activities, athletic practices, games, and events will be cancelled.
• School Age Child Care programs will be open until 4:30 p.m. for those students already scheduled for the day.

LPS will communicate a districtwide after-school activity cancellation through text and email. 

No LPS school will be occupied for more than eight hours without electrical power. If power is lost at a school, and it is too late to announce a closure, the school will be evacuated within eight hours, per the early dismissal procedures above.

When LPS schools have a ONE-HOUR DELAYED START:

• Employees identified to be ESSENTIAL WEATHER-RELATED PERSONNEL are expected to report to work at their usual time, or as soon as is safely possible.
• ALL OTHER EMPLOYEES are expected to report to work 30 minutes later than their usual time.  This means that non-essential weather-related school-based employees and teachers are expected to report to work 30 minutes prior to students arriving.

When LPS schools have a TWO-HOUR DELAYED START:

• Employees identified to be ESSENTIAL WEATHER-RELATED PERSONNEL  are expected to report to work at their usual time, or as soon as is safely possible.
• ALL OTHER EMPLOYEES are expected to report to work 90 minutes later than their usual time.  This means that non-essential weather-related school-based employees and teachers are expected to report to work 30 minutes prior to students arriving.

When LPS schools have a ONE-HOUR DELAYED START ON A PLC WEDNESDAY:

• PLCs are cancelled.
• Employees identified to be ESSENTIAL WEATHER-RELATED PERSONNEL are expected to report to work at their usual time, or as soon as is safely possible.
• ALL OTHER EMPLOYEES are expected to report to work 90 minutes later than their usual time.  This means that non-essential school-based employees and teachers are expected to report to work 30 minutes prior to students arriving.

How are decisions made about weather-related school closures? 
The decision to close school, delay the start of school, or to release school early because of weather conditions is based on one factor: the safety of all students and staff.

Littleton Public Schools makes every effort to announce delay and closure information as early as 5 a.m. But, the process leading up to these decisions actually begins the night before. Transportation, Operations, and other personnel are out driving the roads in the district and consulting with various weather services as early as 2 a.m. As much information as possible is gathered from the following agencies prior to making a decision: 

• Private weather forecasting services
• Colorado Department of Transportation
• Local and state law enforcement agencies
• Transportation officials across the metro area

Unsafe road conditions due to snow and ice are certainly factors in making a determination, but they are not the only ones. Temperature is also taken into consideration. Extreme temperatures are unsafe for everyone, especially children who must wait at bus stops or walk to school.

Why do some school districts stay open and others close on snowy days?
Due to the size of the Denver metro area, it is not uncommon for weather and traffic conditions to vary greatly from one community to another. For example, Littleton Public Schools is considered to be in the central corridor of the metro area and typically experiences the same weather and traffic conditions as Englewood and Denver. Weather and traffic conditions in the Cherry Creek, Douglas County and Jeffco school districts can be different than weather and traffic conditions in the Littleton area.

When are decisions made about school closures? 
Typically, the decision to delay or cancel can be made before 5:00 a.m. and appropriate announcements are made through the district website and local media between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.

What about school bus transportation when the weather is bad? 
In bad weather, buses may run late for a variety of reasons. Prepare your child, in suitable clothing, to wait additional time at the bus stop (usually less than 15 minutes). District transportation staff work very hard to pick up all students on time, but sometimes road conditions and traffic make this difficult. We ask that parents and their children be prepared for buses to run late on inclement weather days. 

How can I make sure my student is safe? 
Parents always have the right and the responsibility to do what is best for their children. The option to keep children home when weather conditions are extreme is always at the parents' discretion and the school understands and respects the decision.

Parents are urged to make arrangements at the beginning of each school year for their children in case of school closures and to plan for the rare situation when it is necessary to close an individual school because of a power failure or another circumstance. Children should know where to go if a parent will not be home and how to contact parents and guardians. Parent contact information, including work telephone numbers, should be kept up-to-date with the school. If you are instructed to pick up your student at a location other than their school due to a school closure, you will be asked to present photo ID before the student will be released.